Death Mountain Chronicles - The Prequel : Part 1 - Hero
by frogginator
Summary: Link leaves the Kokiri Forest to look at the stars and falls facefirst into a brand-new adventure with a new friend! * For title pic: http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/thepond/chauvanist.jpg


pDeath Mountain Chronicles  
pThe Prequel  
pby: Froggy  
  
pDisclaimer: I don't own the concept of 'Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time' or any other Zelda title. I don't own the character, Link, I just think he's cute. I would also sadly like to state that the word 'bumfuzzled' is not mine either. My dear friend Dragoneyes coined the term quite a while ago in Art class. However, Keaton is mine and Noran is my brother's. Dinea is somewhat both of ours.  
  
pRating: PG  
  
pAuthor's Note: This story takes place in the future of the non-Ganondorf alternate timeline created by Princess Zelda. (In other words, when Link grows up after she sends him back to his own time.) And thank you, again, to my brother, KKC, for helping me come up with ideas.  
  
pSummary: Link leaves the Kokiri Forest to look at the stars and falls facefirst into a brand-new adventure!  
  
pDeath Mountain Chronicles - The Prequel  
  
pPart One - Hero  
  
p"Hey, hey, Mido, you wanna have a little swordplay?" Link asked, drawing his sword and leaning down to look at the diminutive Kokiri boy. Mido scowled up at him with the usual scorn, shaking his head to get his red hair out of his face.  
  
p"No, Link, I DON'T want to fight you with swords." Mido growled, turning away and walking back to his little house. Link sat firmly on the ground, looking around him with his jaw skewed out to one side, clenching his teeth and continually jerking his head trying to shake aside the golden-blond bangs that were flying into his eyes in the gentle breeze.  
  
p'Y'know,' he thought to himself, 'it's really not all that fun to be the only teenager in a colony of kids!'  
  
pThe little girl who usually stood at the base of the hill leading up to the Training Center walked over, sitting cross-legged in front of him.  
  
p"Hullo, Link." she said in her sweet little voice. She smiled brightly, her fairy floating around her head. Link was reminded yet again of how he didn't have a fairy anymore, how he wasn't really a Kokiri. And the fact that his best friend, Saria was gone off to be a Sage and he had no other close friends. He sighed and decided to talk to Kiley.  
  
p"Hi, Kiley." he said quietly.  
  
p"What's wrong, Link? Aren't you happy here anymore?" Kiley asked, leaning forward and looking up into his face. The girl looked about 10 years old, even though she and Link were really about the same age.  
  
p"I don't know." Link said thoughtfully, thinking back on his adventure in conquering Ganondorf. He remembered it all so clearly, even though he hadn't really lived it at all. He was that same age again, had the same clothes, same equipment, save, of course, for the Master Sword. How he missed the feeling of that sword in his hand. He shook his head and smiled at Kiley, knowing she had practically just told him what he had to do to restore his happiness. He had to go DO something outside this forest.  
  
p"Well, are you going to leave again?" Kiley asked.  
  
p"I think, I think I just might." Link said, standing up. He replaced the sword he'd fashioned himself in the Castle Town's blacksmith shop to its sheath and gave Kiley a hand up.  
  
p"Be careful." the little blond-haired girl said solemnly, "You're like a big brother to most of us, and we don't want to lose you."  
  
pShe reached up and wrapped her arms around Link's chest, giving him a quick hug. He reached down and lifted her in his arms, squeezing her. Of all the Kokiri children, Link liked little Kiley the best, besides, of course, Saria. The Know-it-All Brothers were too...uppity, Mido too grouchy and the twins always flirted with him.  
  
p"See you, then, Kiley." he said quietly, then left her standing there watching him go. As he went through the hollow log leading to the outside world, Kiley's eyes filled with tears and she smiled through them.  
  
p"You be careful, Link." she said.  
  
p~*~*~*~*~  
  
pWhen Link finally got to the outside world, he realized it was evening. He shrugged and decided not to play the Sun Song on his Fairy Ocarina, opting to watch the stars come out as he ran towards Lon Lon Ranch to see Malon. Maybe he could take Epona and Malon for a ride. It was always nice to go out and take a ride, or maybe he could play her mother's song, and she could sing along. They often visited, and had become very close friends. Link sighed and kicked at a scuff of grass by his foot. Too many 'close girl friends' and never anything more...never...  
  
pHe drew his sword, and started whacking the grass, bored to death. He didn't really feel like seeing Malon tonight. He didn't really know what he wanted anymore, but it certainly wasn't sitting around doing nothing in the Kokiri Forest or visiting 'close friends' that he knew were all wrong for him. He desperately wanted adventure, and wanted to meet a girl who was more like him. Not a soft piece of cloth, or even a soft piece of cloth who could do magic, like the Princess, but a girl who could stand for herself, who could...  
  
pHe sighed. There probably was no such girl.  
  
pLink scooped up a rupee that had been hidden in the grass and spun it in his palm. A one-rupee crystal, green in color. Nothing unusual, in fact, it was very common to find green rupees in the grass.   
  
pA wolf howled in the distance, and then there was the distinctive sound the Stalchild made when they popped out of the ground to attack anything they could see. Link smiled ferally, preparing for battle. It would be fun to get a little workout. He never got any swordplay in, since Mido would never fight him after he'd kicked the little Kokiri's butt a while back. Three Stalchild closed in on Link and he fought them easily, swinging his sword and releasing a little of the confused teenage tension he was feeling. The stretching and working of his muscles felt so good. He continued on for a while, but when his shoulder muscles started to get a little sore, he decided to play the Sun Song.   
  
pJust then, he heard a scream, a shrill, sharp scream of pain. A female scream. Sighing, he sheathed his sword and ran full tilt in the direction of the scream. Another soft piece of cloth to save in her time of need.  
  
pLink found the girl sitting by the wall of the Lon Lon Ranch, being attacked by three Stalchild at the same time. Something just out of her reach shimmered in the moonlight, but Link was too busy starting in on the Stalchild to notice. He fought valiantly, expecting when he finished to find the girl standing nearby with some token to give him for saving her. Five rupees or such. He made a crooked smile, and glanced over to see if she was watching him fight for her, only to discover that she was scrambling through the grass trying to find something.  
  
pIn that moment of distraction, Link discovered that the Stalchild had gotten somewhat of an advantage, and the best he could do was retreat under his Hylian Shield to avoid the Stalchilds' claws. How pathetic! And he was supposed to be the conquering hero.  
  
p'Here goes MY five rupees.' he commented to himself sarcastically. Suddenly all three Stalchild disappeared fully, slashed in one swipe by a mysterious person. Then what sounded like a small, handheld harp played the six plucky notes of the Sun Song. In a burst of music, the sun rose and all the Stalchild disappeared. Link stood up, hooking his Hylian shield back on his sword sheath, to find himself face to face with the girl he'd 'rescued'.  
  
pShe was smiling amusedly, the small harp in her hands and a huge single-edged sword in a sheath at her side. Her eyes were bright green, which was unusual in the mostly blue-eyed Hylian society, and the hair that fell in thick, messy strands around her face was auburn. She had two long braids down her back, as well, and wore a short shirt, tunic, cargo skirt, gloves and leather boots with metal kneecap and shin protectors. A transparent shield was strapped to her back.  
  
p"Hey, hero." she said, her voice holding the same spark of sarcastic amusement her smile did, "What's your name?"  
  
p"Link." he said, absolutely bumfuzzled.  
  
pShe reached out to shake his hand, and he took it, still speechless.  
  
p"My name's Keaton." she said, staring straight into his deep blue eyes, "And don't make any comments. I was Keaton long before that yellow fox was. You can't buy my mask."  
  
p"I...I..." Link stuttered, "You killed the Stalchild?"  
  
p"Yeah. That's not so hard to do when you have a huge sword, is it, hero?"  
  
p"But you're...you're...you're a..."  
  
p"Oh, by Zelda's crown! You want to say 'girl' don't you?" she said, her voice dripping with disgust, "Not another chauvanist pig 'hero'."  
  
p"What?" Link demanded.  
  
p"Chauvanist pig. It means that you don't think women can do as much as men can." she informed him in the voice of one talking to a five-year-old.  
  
p"I know that!" he sputtered, "I don't think women are inferior!"  
  
pShe dismissed him with a wave of her hand, "I was just having a rest, anyway. I didn't want to go into Lon Lon Ranch in the middle of the night and bother anyone, so I stayed out here. I've never been on the Hyrule Field before at night, always just used the Sun Song, you know? So I wasn't expecting to get attacked. I guess I let my sword get out of arm's reach, so I couldn't fight the Stalchild. 'Least you distracted them so I could get my sword. Pretty dumb, aren't they?"  
  
p"Uh...yeah." Link said, "Why were you headed to Lon Lon Ranch? I was headed there too...I guess."  
  
p"I wanted to get a horse so I could get around faster." she said, "Why were you heading to Lon Lon Ranch?"  
  
p"Just to visit Malon. She's a friend of mine, and her father owns the ranch." he said.  
  
p"Oh." the girl said brightly, "Come with me then! Maybe you could get me a good deal! Even chauvanist pigs are good for some things."  
  
pShe grabbed Link's hand, and dragged him with her towards the ranch entrance.  
  
p"Hey!" Link said, "I don't think Malon's gonna sell any of her horses."  
  
p"I could rent one!" Keaton said brightly, "Come ON. You have to help me, please? The fate of pretty much all Hyrule is counting on me being able to get to the Zora's Domain a little more quickly than I got here!"  
  
p"You have to get to Zora's Domain?" he asked, smiling suddenly, "And you have to save Hyrule? From what?"  
  
p"I see that 'hero' glint in your eye." she growled, hands on hips. They hadn't even gotten inside the ranch yet, "Don't you dare suggest you can do this better than I can..."  
  
p"No!" he said, holding his hands up in a surrender gesture, "I'm just saying, I'm the proud owner of Epona, Malon's fastest horse, and that I could get you to Zora's Domain very quickly. If you come with me, you could save your rupees for better things."  
  
p"Ah-hah!" she said, smiling, then threw her arms around his chest in a tight hug, "You're a SMART chauvanist!"  
  
p"I am NOT a chauvanist!"  
  
p~*~*~*~*~  
  
p"Hey, thanks Malon, for looking after her." Link said, stroking Epona's chestnut brown hair with his large hand. Malon brushed back a few strands of her fiery red hair and giggled behind a hand.  
  
p"Only the best for you, Link." she said, blushing a little. Keaton, who was standing on the other side of Epona, rolled her eyes and fiddled with the stirrup.  
  
p"Hey, hero." she said suddenly, "We'd better get going. I need to talk to King Zora."  
  
pLink's eyebrows drew together in the middle, his forehead crinkling up a little, "You have to talk to King Zora? I only thought you had to get to Zora's Domain."  
  
pKeaton sighed, "It's far too much for you to understand, hero, being male and all. We just have to get going."  
  
pLink rolled his eyes, wondering why she called HIM a chauvanist.  
  
pMalon's blue eyes widened and she smiled confusedly at Link, "Hey, Link, why does she call you 'hero' all the time?"  
  
pLink blushed, "Well...last night I was trying to save her from some Stalchild that..." he started, but Keaton was tapping her foot repeatedly and impatiently. Every time her foot came down, her metal shinguard slammed against her foot, making a very annoying 'clang' noise repeatedly.  
  
p"Anyway, we'd better go." Keaton said, prompting Link.  
  
p"Uh, yeah. See you Malon." Link said, taking Epona's reins and walking towards the fence so he could get himself and Keaton on her back. Malon walked back towards the stable, staring at Link the whole way. As soon as she was out of earshot, Keaton smacked his shoulder congenially.  
  
p"She sure has it bad for you!"  
  
p"No way. We're good friends."  
  
p"Getting better and better." Keaton grinned, "I bet she dreams about you while she's cleaning stables and chasing Cuccos."  
  
pLink sighed, "Can you just get onto the horse?" he asked. Keaton giggled again, pushed her sword aside and then looked thoughtfully at Link.  
  
p"How?"  
  
pLink sighed again, "You put your left foot in the stirrup and swing your right over her back. Then you sit there and hold onto my waist so you don't fall off." he explained.  
  
pKeaton tried, but had a hard time getting her heavy boots over Epona's back. Link ended up having to hoist her up by the waist. She dragged her skirt up around her upper thighs and slid back onto the saddle pad behind the actual saddle, leaving room for Link to get on. When he was on, Keaton set her hands on his waist.  
  
p"Ready?" he asked.  
  
p"Ready." she responded, "Make her gallop, hero!"  
  
p"My name is Link."  
  
p"I was going to ask you about that." she said, as Link kicked Epona lightly on the sides to make her get walking towards the exit of the ranch. Malon waved at them from the stable door.  
  
p"About what?"  
  
p"I...I was raised in the Goron City, by some really friendly Goron people. The brother of King Darunia, you know? I was raised as the sister of this one kid, Darunia's son, after Darunia was off to be a Sage. The kid's name is Link. What's with that being your name too?"  
  
p"Um..." Link stuttered. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't exactly tell her the truth, could he? He decided to go for what truth he could tell, "Well, we're both named after a mythical hero who..."  
  
p"Who saved the Gorons from certain starvation when their quarry was closed up, and then went on to save all of Hyrule from an evil force that had got hold of the Triforce." she recited, "I know. So you were named after the mighty Link too, hey?"  
  
p"You could say that." he smiled.  
  
p"I think it's creepy. Can't this horse go any faster?"  
  
pLink gave Epona a harder nudge to the sides and she settled into a smooth canter, eating up the distance to the Castle in no time. Link guided her over the bridge leading to the entrance of Kakariko village, passed the stairs, and headed towards the entrance to Zora's Domain. When they got there, Link stopped Epona, and got off. He was heading towards the entrance already when he realized that Keaton was still back on the horse, looking nervous for the first time since he'd met her the night before.  
  
p"Coming, Keaton?" he asked, "You're the one who knows what we're doing here."  
  
pSlowly she skooched towards the side of the horse, then Epona reared in annoyance and Keaton slid right back off the horse's rump and onto the ground. Instantly the girl grabbed her shield off her back and held it over her head as Epona reared and kicked. Link ran over to Epona, grabbing her reins and making soft crooning noises to calm her. Finally the horse calmed down and Keaton peeked up at him through the strange transparent oval shield. She stood shakily and hooked the shield on her back again. Her face was bruised and scratched, reminding Link that she'd been injured some inobvious way last night by the Stalchild as well. With shaking hands, Keaton shoved back some of her loose hair.   
  
p"Thanks, Link." she said, calling him by his real name for the first time, "I guess you really are a hero now."  
  
p"Eh, I'm nothing special." Link said, with a slight hint of sadness in his voice, then dug around in his tunic and produced a bottle of red medicine. He handed it to her and she took a little sip. She wrinkled her nose and handed it back to him. Within a few minutes, the bruises on her face had cleared up and she started to walk towards the entrance to Zora's Domain. Just before she entered it, she turned and smiled at Link. For the first time, he noticed that her face, with its delicate features and bright green eyes, was very pretty. The wind blew her thick, wispy auburn hair around, her braids drifting in the breeze.  
  
p"Thank you for the potion." she said, "And the ride. I owe you a lot, I suppose, Link. I'd give you something for your help, if I thought I had anything you'd value. But I can see right through you, hero. The only thing you want is adventure, so I'll give you what I have - an offer to come help me on MY adventure."  
  
pLink smiled. He'd been considering asking her if he could help, but had been a little leery of bringing on another hail of insults about being a male chauvanist. Here she was, giving him what he wanted...what he needed, really. He slapped Epona's rump lightly, sending her off back towards Lon Lon Ranch.  
  
p"She'll get home on her own. Me, I'll get home when I need to." he told Keaton, following her towards the path to Zora's Domain.  



End file.
